A common type of passenger vehicle often referred to as a pickup truck is typically provided with a cargo box at the rear end thereof which is known to be useful for transporting various objects therein. Various accessories are known to assist in loading and unloading larger objects, including personal vehicles such as snowmobiles, ATV's and riding mowers, into and out of the truck box.
Various examples of devices suited for loading or unloading truck boxes are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,300,239 by Benedikt, U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,674 by Ogrodnick, U.S. Pat. No. 7,381,019 by Boice, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,931 by Chapman, as well as US Publication 2013/0230374 by Kerkvliet. In each instance, a deck surface is lifted from a ground level loading position rearward of the truck to a raised position within or above the truck box. Such decks however are commonly large and unaesthetically pleasing in appearance, particularly when mounted on short truck boxes, as the deck often extends rearward beyond the rear edge of the truck box resulting in a hazardous protruding component even when not in use for supporting cargo thereon.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,491,331 by Fox discloses an extendable cargo deck for a truck box which can be retracted within the perimeter of the cargo box when not in use, however, no means are provided for loading cargo from ground level.